SCHOOL BUDGET, IN FIRST, BREAKS $2 BILLION MARK

The legacy of Broward County's growth is the underlying cause of much of the $200 million increase in the proposed 1997-98 budget, which breaks the $2 billion mark for the first time.

The budget would provide:

* Teachers and textbooks for 8,300 additional children in the fifth largest school district in the country.

* Groundbreakings on seven new schools, 10 replacement schools, six cafeterias or kitchens and nine classroom buildings as well as land purchases for other school sites.

* Hundreds more computers in classrooms.

In exchange, the education portion of your tax bill likely will grow by just over 1 percent.

School Board members have been hammering at the message that they haven't raised their part of the tax formula, that the increase was mandated by the Legislature.

No one is sure exactly how much taxes will increase because the state won't provide final figures until Saturday.

However, using estimates, officials think the tax rate could increase from $9.94 to $10.05 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.

That means that owners of a $100,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption would see their school taxes rise from $745.50 to $753.41, if their property value remains the same.

The board will vote today to advertise specifics of the budget for public hearings on July 30 and Sept. 9.

The proposed budget includes $1.2 billion for the daily operation of the system - nearly 90 percent earmarked for salaries and benefits.

More than $119.7 million will pay debts on bonds and other loans.

The budget for big-ticket purchases such as building schools and buying computers will be $577.8 million.

The big-ticket budget called capital improvements also includes $41 million to install computers in classrooms, upgrade schools' wiring and buy computer equipment for district offices.

"That's what I see is different: lots of money for technology," board member Darla Carter said.

The district will educate 225,000 children - about 3.8 percent more than last year. Broward officials often have boasted that cost-cutting measures have kept the tax increase smaller than the growth in the enrollment.

The budget includes salaries and benefits for 21,000 employees - the largest payroll in the county.

It also underwrites a lengthy list of social services, sponsors hundreds of athletic contests, finances arts programs outside the school, keeps schools open for community use at night, and maintains before- and after-school care for children of working parents, and coordinates the largest mass transportation and largest food service operations in the county.